43% of consumers feel retailers are doing a good job of using sustainable delivery practices, while more than 60% indicate they are quite/very interested in environmentally friendly delivery methods.
That’s according to Descartes’ 2023 Home Delivery Sustainability Report: Consumers Expect More! survey, which examined consumer sentiment of retailers’ sustainability practices around their delivery operations.
Additionally, 59% said they are willing to act if they’re not satisfied with retailers’ sustainable delivery efforts.
The study of 8,000 consumers across nine European countries, Canada and the United States provides retailers and logistics organisations with insights into the importance of sustainability in consumer purchase and delivery decisions and how perspectives vary by age and geography.
“Compared to our 2022 study, consumers are much more interested in the environmental delivery practices of retailers. They’re influenced by these factors when making purchasing decisions and willing to take eco-friendly home delivery options, which are often also lower cost delivery methods for retailers,” said Chris Jones (pictured, above), EVP, Industry at Descartes. “Retailers need to heed these important trends as they provide more ways to differentiate, grow revenue, create greater customer loyalty and reduce delivery costs.”
The study analyses consumer sentiment around the sustainability of retailers’ delivery operations, how this is impacting purchasing decisions, how consumers evaluate retailer efforts in sustainable delivery, which goods are most impacted by sustainable delivery performance and how consumers want to receive goods.
In addition, it delves into the changes in purchasing and delivery decisions that consumers are willing to make to help the environment.
Lastly, it provides insight into how the importance of sustainable delivery varies by geodemographic factors, the influence of geodemographics on buyer behaviour, the delivery decisions consumers are making, and consumer expectations of retailers’ sustainable delivery efforts for the future.
